The present invention relates to devices for holding eyeglasses and the like securely in place on a wearer's head, particularly during vigorous activity such as athletic exercise, and for retaining such eyeglasses about the person when not actually in use. In particular, this application relates primarily to such a device for glasses whose bows do not hook securely behind a wearer's ears.
Some eyeglasses are provided with bows which include resilient, downwardly curved rear end portions which hook securely about the ears of the wearer. However, many eyeglasses include bows which extend relatively straight rearwardly, including, perhaps, a downwardly slanted rear end portion which cannot securely hold such glasses in place on the wearer's head during vigorous exercise or participation in athletics.
Various devices have been used in the past to hold such eyeglasses and other eye-protective items in place more securely than is normally done merely by the bows of the eyeglasses. The previously-known devices for this purpose, however, suffer from certain shortcomings.
Some previously-known eyewear retaining devices include straps having end portions which may be attached to the bows of ordinary eyeglass frames to retain the eyeglasses on a wearer's head. Adjustability of most of such devices is provided by sliding the forward ends of the devices to the appropriate position along the bows of the glasses frames. Adjustment in this fashion may not be particularly secure for some types of glasses, and some such devices, once in place, do not permit easy removal of the glasses from the wearer's head when desired. As one example of such a device, Fuller U.S. Pat. No. 4,133,604 discloses an eyeglass retainer comprising an elastic strap having tubular end portions formed by sewing together opposite edges of the terminal portions of the strap.
Another eyewear retaining device, disclosed in Murrell U.S. Pat. No. 4,657,364, includes tubular portions which fit elastically about the rear end of each of the bows of a pair of glasses, while a short strap is attached fixedly to the top of each such tubular portion and extends rearwardly, to be fastened adjustably to the opposite strap by hook-and-loop closure materials.
While quite effective, such previous eyewear retainers are quite visible when in use, and many wearers of eyeglasses, sunglasses, sport goggles, and the like may prefer not to have visible straps extending around the rear of their heads. Additionally, the straps of eyewear retainers such as taught by Fuller and Murrell may be undesirably bulky for some users.
Enghofer U.S. Pat. No. 4,479,703, discloses eyeglass frames having included elastic cords which may be extended from the rearmost ends of the bows. Such frames, however, are not generally adaptable to existing eyeglasses, and the Enghofer device may also present the previously-mentioned disadvantage to the appearance of the wearer.
Frum, U.S. Pat. No. 2,626,538, discloses an eyeglass retaining device which provides a downward extension from the bows of a pair of glasses, but such a device may not be comfortable in use. Additionally, such a device makes intentional removal of eyewear more difficult because of the essentially immovable nature of the downward extension disclosed.
What is desired, therefore, is an improved device for retaining eyewear, which is both secure and comfortable, which is adjustable to fit the wearer's head, allows easy removal of the eyewear which does not present an undesirable appearance, and which is useful with conventional eyeglasses, sunglasses, and the like.